Man, 29, pleads guilty to two alcohol-fuelled incidents

A MAGISTRATE has reserved her decision to consider just how long a man should spend behind bars for assaulting and obstructing police.

Appearing in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court today, 29-year-old Joel Lewis Morley pleaded guilty to four counts of assaulting police and two counts of obstructing police in relation to two incidents, the first on December 20 and the second, while on bail for the first offences, on February 15.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Tina Bland told the court Agnes Water police responded to a disturbance at a property on Tableland Rd at Mount Maria, near Lowmead, about 8.40pm on December 12 and arrested an intoxicated Morley.

Morley kicked at a door and windows in the paddy wagon he was placed in and challenged police to a fight.

At the watch-house, as he was walked to his cell, he used a knee to hit an officer in the groin.

Despite being given a chance and released on bail, it was less than two months later when Rosedale police were called to the same Mount Maria address after Morley threatened another person at the residence, saying he was going to "take them down, kill them and bury them in the backyard”.

When police arrived they found Morley holding a wood-handled machete, which he placed on the ground at their direction, but a search also found a smaller knife concealed under his shirt.

At Bundaberg's watch-house, Morley kicked one officer in the leg and attempted to bite another.

As police tried to place him in a padded cell he attempted to hit an officer before police used capsicum spray to control him.

Defence lawyer Nick Larter said Morley had a long-standing alcohol addiction, which began with the loss of his brother to a heroin overdose when Morley was 14.

"Intoxication played a large part in his offending behaviour,” he said.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin said before handing down a sentence she wanted to review like cases and determine if jail terms should be concurrent or cumulative.